Repotting a blooming den.

Okay, the Dendrobium whoís leaves and flowers are falling off is now in my possession! Iíll be giving it more sun and watering a bit less to see if thatís the problem. I can now see more roots that are on the brown side but not yet mushy. Theyíre closer to the top so I can feel them.

Questions is, should I repot it? Itís in volcanic rock and I have Schultz Orchid Mix on hand (lots of charcoal). If repotting is necessary, should I put it back in the plastic container itís in, choose another, or what?

Not mushy...well, brown roots don't sound too good either. To confirm: If the outer layer comes off very easily like a thin skin (dead velamen) and leaves a thin "string", it's definitely dead. Or bend the root. It it doens't snap like a carrot and is "limp" it's dead too. Now that you've gotten straight which roots are alive and which are dead, repot in fresh orchid mix. Be sure to cut the dead roots--leaving them there can cause fungus. It's best to try a new clean container that's as clean as possible. Find the right size to accomodate the healthy mass of roots.

To repot a blooming den, just follow the same repotting procedure--take plant out, get rid of mix, cut dead roots, put in new pot and new mix. Be careful to injure the plant as least as possible, and be sure not to break the spike! There's always a risk with losing flowers from repotting, but many times the flowers stay unharmed.

Lily is definitely right about the new pot, new media (mix). I wouldn't put it in Shultzs orchid mix, too much like soil. You can buy a small bag of volcanic rock at most nurseries or home type stores. I'd put it back in rock.

Repotting a dend

I as well had to repot a blooming dend just the other day. The sphag it was potted in was just way to wet and started growing funny things. So far so good...that was three days ago and I have not noticed any adverse effects from the repotting.

Okay, I've just cleaned out everything, gotten all that nasty rock out (seems a little shapr to me...). And... I think this poor Den has a MAJOR problems. Here's the deal:

The roots are mostly that whistish color, regular looking. But, when I press on them, they're squishy. NOT mushy, but... hollow. Like I press on them and they are NOT firm, but squishy like they've got nothing by air inside, like they're hollow. Most of the roots are like this. Haven't put it in the new pot in case these need to be cut away.

That means those roots died from not enough water, and then they got watered again. If you pull the outer layer of velamen away from them, you'll just be left with a dead root thread inside.

Cut all of that dead stuff off, repot the plant in bark mix that you've presoaked, and seal it in a ziploc bag. Put it somewhere out of any direct light. (You can do the ziploc bag thing without potting the plant up too, in case you want to see if new roots are developing. In that case, but some wet sphagnum or a wet paper towel in the bag along with the plant, but not touching.) The idea is to keep the humidity around the plant at almost 100% until it has a chance to grow new roots. If you don't keep the humidity high, without good roots, the thing will jlust keep losing water until if finally croaks. New roots can take a few months to develop, so don't lose patience! You might still pull it around yet...

New roots can take a few months to develop, so don't lose patience! You might still pull it around yet...

Well, I hope this is encouragement for you Styx (which, I must admit is one of my favourite bands along with Badfinger, the Guess Who and for those rare moments...Rush...though I doubt you take your name from the band). I also had a Den that was in pretty rough shape and just merely existing for about two years. Sometimes I was lucky enough to get a new growth, but that happened about once a year. As it turned out my problem was the same as yours, the hollow root problem. I just toughed it out, knew that I could pull the plant through, and vigilantly took care of the plant. Watched the humidity and how moist the medium was. Now, the older growths aren't in the best shape, but the roots coming off of the new growths are doing awesome . I've never seen this plant have nice thick roots even when I first rescued it from a big box store. It takes a while, but worth it.

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